U.S. patent number 5,184,354 [Application Number 07/705,347] was granted by the patent office on 1993-02-09 for protective head and eye gear.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AlJim Corporation. Invention is credited to Daniel V. Alfaro, Cecilio V. Jimenez, Jr..
United States Patent |
5,184,354 |
Alfaro , et al. |
February 9, 1993 |
Protective head and eye gear
Abstract
Headgear for athletes such as basketball players includes a head
encircling strap assembly and an eye/nose protective assembly. The
strap assembly includes straps extending around the user's head and
under the chin and provides padding at strategic places. The
eye/nose assembly includes an eye encircling rim connected to the
strap assembly and a covering over the rim to protect the user's
eyes. The covering is preferably a filament mesh grid using
filaments less than about 0.050" in diameter spaced not more than
about 3/8 inch apart.
Inventors: |
Alfaro; Daniel V. (Corpus
Christi, TX), Jimenez, Jr.; Cecilio V. (Corpus Christi,
TX) |
Assignee: |
AlJim Corporation (Corpus
Christi, TX)
|
Family
ID: |
24833057 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/705,347 |
Filed: |
May 24, 1991 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/425; 2/431;
2/433; 2/452; 2/9 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61F
9/02 (20130101); A61F 9/029 (20130101); A63B
71/10 (20130101); A63B 69/02 (20130101); A63B
2071/105 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61F
9/02 (20060101); A63B 71/10 (20060101); A63B
71/08 (20060101); A61F 009/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;2/425,431,433,424,10,421,426,427,452,9 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nerbun; Peter
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Moller; G. Turner
Claims
I claim:
1. A combination head and eye protective headgear, comprising:
a head encircling strap assembly including
a bodily flexible forehead band of unpadded material for extending
horizontally above the eyebrows of the user,
a bodily flexible head encircling strap of padded material
connected to the forehead band for extending horizontally around
the user's head near its maximum periphery,
a bodily flexible top strap of unpadded material connected tot he
forehead band for extending vertically over the top of the user's
head and connected to the head encircling strap near its rearmost
extremity,
a bodily flexible chin strap and means connecting the chin strap to
the head encircling strap assembly for extending below the chin of
the user;
and
an eye protective assembly connected to the forehead band and to
the chin strap and terminating above the end of the user's nose,
the eye protective assembly including
a bodily flexible unpadded band for extending across the user's
nose,
a padded eye encircling rim having an annular relatively rigid
frame and padding material encapsulating the annular frame.
2. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 1
wherein the head encircling strap and the top strap intersect at a
first location adjacent the rear of the headgear and the padding
member comprises an enlargement at the first location.
3. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 1
wherein the eye protective assembly comprises a clear transparent
rigid member.
4. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 1
wherein the eye protective assembly comprises a mesh of
filaments.
5. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 4
wherein the eye protective assembly provides a line of sight from a
user away form the headgear and the filaments are of a
cross-sectional shape having a dimension perpendicular to the line
of sight less than about 0.075" in a grid not more than about 3/8"
on centers.
6. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 5
wherein the filaments are of circular cross section.
7. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 6
wherein the circular filaments are no larger than about 0.050" in
diameter.
8. The combination head and eye protective headgear of claim 5
wherein the filaments in the grid comprise a first group of
filaments extending in one direction and a second group of
filaments extending in a second direction transverse to the first
direction and abutting the first group of filaments at a
multiplicity of intersections, the filaments of the first and
9. The combination head and eye protective gear of claim 1 wherein
the unpadded material is unpadded fabric.
10. The combination head and eye protective gear of claim 9 wherein
the padded material comprises two layers of unpadded fabric having
a foam rubber layer therebetween.
11. The combination head and eye protective gear of claim 5 wherein
the filaments are of a non-circular cross-section having a long
dimension parallel to the line of sight and a short dimension
perpendicular to the light of sight.
Description
This invention relates to a protective gear and, more particularly,
a head and/or eye protective device.
Helmets are commonly worn in sports where the risk of injury is
high. Football, motorcycling, bicycling, and other high speed
sports have evolved helmets uniquely suitable to the risks of the
particular sport. Masks or eye protective devices are also common
in sports where eye or face injuries are probable. Thus, masks have
been devised for baseball catchers, squash players, racquetball
players, fencers and the like.
Disclosures of interest relative to this invention are found in
U.S. Pat. Nos. 924,613; 4,185,331; 4,494,251; 4,173,795; 4,847,921
and 4,912,777.
The only protective device worn by basketball players are goggles
covering the eyes and upper part of the nose with an elastic strap
extending under the maximum circumference of the skull. While such
devices act to minimize eye and socket injuries, they leave much to
be desired and a number of improvements are envisioned by this
invention.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved
combination headgear and mask for protecting the eyes, eye sockets,
nose and head of a wearer, particularly a basketball player.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved
combination headgear and mask for a basketball player.
These and other objects of this invention will become more fully
apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the
accompanying drawing and appended claims.
IN THE DRAWINGS:
FIG. 1 is a slightly offset front view of the headgear of this
invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the headgear of FIG.
1, taken substantially along line 1--1, as viewed in the direction
indicated by the arrows;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the headgear of FIG.
1, taken substantially along line 3--3 thereof, as viewed in the
direction indicated by the arrows;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the headgear of FIG.
1, taken substantially along line 4--4 thereof, as viewed in the
direction indicated by the arrows;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the headgear of FIG.
1, taken substantially along line 5--5 thereof, as viewed in the
direction indicated by the arrows;
FIG. 6 is a partial isometric view of the mesh or grid extending
across the eyepiece of this invention; and
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of another embodiment of
the filamentary structure of this invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1-5, a headgear 10 of this invention includes,
as major components, a head encircling strap assembly 12 and an
eye/nose protective assembly 14. The strap assembly 12 includes a
wide forehead band 16 on the user's forehead above the eye brows, a
head encircling strap 18 connected to the forehead band 16 and
extending about the maximum circumference of the user's head and a
top strap 20 extending from the forehead band 16 to the back of the
head encircling strap 18. In addition, one or more lateral top
straps 22 connect the top strap 20 and the head encircling strap
18. The top straps 20, 22 keep the head encircling strap 18
more-or-less on the maximum circumference of the user's head.
The strap assembly 12 also includes a large pad 24 at the
intersection of the head encircling strap 1 and the top strap 20.
As shown in FIG. 2, the pad 24 includes a layer of foam or other
padding material 26 sandwiched between a pair of outer layers 28 to
protect the user's head, during a fall, from contact with the
basketball court.
The strap assembly 12 also includes a chin strap 30 connected to
the head encircling strap 18 and/or the forehead band 16 in any
suitable manner, as by sewing or VELCRO. The chin strap 30 extends
downwardly from both sides of the headgear 10 under the user's chin
and stabilizes the front of the strap assembly 12 and the eye/nose
protective assembly 14. The chin strap 30 may be elastic or may
include a buckle or VELCRO faster at the ends.
The top straps 20, 22 are preferably made of a light weight,
unpadded fabric material as shown in FIG. 3. The head encircling
strap 18 may be made of the same material but preferably is of a
heavier material including a padded layer 32 sandwiched between a
pair of outer layers 34, as shown in FIG. 4.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the eye/nose protective assembly 14
includes an eye encircling rim 36 including a more-or-less rigid
member 38 encapsulated in foam or other suitable padding material
40. The upper part of the rim 36 abuts the user's forehead above
the eyebrows and connects to the forehead band 16 in any suitable
manner, as by stitching or gluing. The lower part of the rim 36
rests on the user's eye sockets, cheekbone and nose and connects to
a band 42 extending laterally across the user's face and connecting
to the chin straps 30.
The covering over the rim 36 may comprise a clear plastic lens much
like conventional goggles. Preferably, the rim 36 is spanned by a
filamentary structure 44 comprising a multiplicity of fine
filaments 46 in a grid. The filaments 46 should be sufficiently
close together to prevent a human finger from passing between them.
By securing the filaments 46 together at the intersections thereof,
as by bonding or gluing, the filamentary grid is stabilized so the
filaments 46 do not spread apart when encountering a small object,
such as the end of a finger. Securing the filaments 46 together at
the intersections also greatly strengthens the grid and the
filaments 44 can be made small enough and spaced apart far enough
not to interfere seriously with visibility.
Although the filaments 46 may be of any suitable cross-section,
circular is much preferred for a number of reasons, one of which is
simplicity, although oval or polygonal shapes also work and can
provide additional advantages. From a vision viewpoint, an
important consideration is the dimension of the filaments 46
perpendicular or transverse to the line of sight 48 because
material extending in this direction obscures vision more than
material parallel to the line of sight 48. Thus, filaments 50, FIG.
7, of oval or elongate cross-section with the short dimension
perpendicular to the line of sight provide improved visibility
through the filamentary structure 44 without loss of strength.
For round filaments, it has been found that if the filaments 46 are
less than about 0.075" and preferably less than about 0.050" in
diameter and spaced apart in a grid not less than about 3/8" on
centers, the user does not substantially notice the vision
impediment or, if the user does notice, practice with the headgear
10 shortly allows the athlete to operate as if there is no vision
impairment. The filaments 50 with an elongate cross-section may
have a slightly smaller short dimension than the diameter of
circular filaments because much of the strength giving material is
parallel to the line of sight 48 and thus does not obscure vision
incrementally.
Although the filaments 46 may be of many different materials, a
preferred group of materials is thermoplastic organic polymeric
compounds such as NYLON, polypropylene and the like. These
materials can be readily formed of any desired shape and secured
together at the intersections by relatively simple thermal bonding
techniques.
Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its
preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is
understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is
only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of
operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be
resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention as hereinafter claimed.
* * * * *